1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electronic device and, more particularly, to a slide and tilt mechanism for an electronic device.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
As electronic devices continue to become more sophisticated, these devices provide an increasing amount of functionality by including such applications as, for example, a mobile phone, digital camera, video camera, navigation system, gaming capabilities, and Internet browser applications. Many of these devices with increased functionality have more than one configuration. Fold and slide mechanisms have been widely used in different kinds of mobile electronic devices to accommodate these multiple configurations. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 07-004130 discloses a tilt type hinge configuration for an electronic device.
Additionally, there are also recent conventional configurations (such as the AT&T Tilt™ 8925 Kaiser, from High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC)) on the market that combine tilting with sliding so that the display of the device can be opened to allow for better viewing angles as in folding devices. However in the conventional product configurations, the sliding and tilting mechanisms are clearly separate elements.
The conventional solutions have all had either more than two links per side of the product, or the requirement for visible slots in the upper face of the lower part. These conventional solutions also provide volume inefficiencies as they tend to take up a lot of space.
Accordingly, there is a desire to provide an improved mechanism for transforming a two part handset product from a flat closed configuration, to an open and tilted configuration.